Fastening means for a swimming pool cover



Aug. 31, 1965 P. H. LUPOLI 3,203,066

FASTENING MEANS FOR A SWIMMING POOL COVER Filed June 7, 1963 FIG. 1.

INVENTOR PAUL H. 1. UPOL.

z/wflwm @M m A TTOB/V'c YS United States Patent 3,203,066 FASTENING MEANS FOR A SWIMMING POOL COVER Paul Harry Lupoli, 78-27 90th Ave., Woodhaven 21, N.Y. Filed June 7, 1963, Ser. No. 286,378 3 Claims. (Cl. 24-257) This invention relates to portable swimming pools, and more particularly to improved clip means for fastening the cover of a pool in place so as to prevent the cover from blowing off.

A main object of the invention is to provide a novel and improved fastening means for a swimming pool cover, the fastening means being simple in construct on, being easy to install, and resiliently clamping the marginal portions of the cover to the top rail of the swimming pool so as to prevent the cover from blowing off.

A further object of the invention is to provide an improved fastening means for securing the flexible cover of a swimming pool on the top rail thereof, the fastening means being inexpensive to fabricate, being durable in construction, being easy to manipulate, and being shaped so that it conforms with the arcuate curvature of the top rail of the swimming pool, insuring that the cover will be clamped in a substantially continuous manner along the entire length of the fastening means.

Further objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent from the following description and claims, and from the accompanying drawings, wherein:

FIGURE 1 is a fragmentary perspective view showing a portable swimming pool having a cover clamped thereon by means of improved clips constructed in accordance with the present invention.

FIGURE 2 is an enlarged top plan view of one of the cover clamping clips employed in FIGURE 1.

FIGURE 3 is a side elevational view of the clamping clip of FIGURE 2.

FIGURE 4 is an end view of the clamping clip of FIG- URES 2 and 3.

FIGURE 5 is a bottom plan view of the clamping clip of FIGURES 2, 3 and 4.

Referring to the drawings, 11 generally designates a conventional portable swimming pool of the type including a frame which may be generally circular, or may be otherwise arcuately shaped, the frame having a bottom supporting portion 12 of rigid tubing, a plurality of vertical rigid post members 13, and a top frame member of the same shape as the bottom member 12, of rigid tubing, and rigidly connected thereto by the spaced vertical post members 13. Secured in a conventional manner within the enclosure defined by the frame is a continuous sheet of plastic material, designated at 15, which is fastened to the top frame member in a conventional manner and which depends into the frame, defining the main swimming pool receptacle.

It will be understood that when in normal use, the swimming pool is substantially filled with water, and it is usually desirable to cover the pool so that foreign material or small animals will not fall into the pool. Thus, a cover 16 of suitable flexible material, such as flexible plastic sheet material is provided, the cover being of suflicient size to overlie the swimming pool 11 with its marginal portions extending over the arcuately curved continuous top frame element of the pool, in the manner generally illustrated in FIGURE 1. Thus, in FIGURE 1, the marginal portion of the cover 16 is shown at 17 and depends downwardly for a short distance from the top of the swimming pool frame. As will be further shown in FIGURE 1, the swimming pool includes as a conventional part of its structure the wire mesh wall 18 which 3,203,066 Patented Aug. 31, 1965 reinforces the portions of the swimming pool spaced between the vertical posts 13. The marginal portion 17 of the cover 16 is adapted to extend adjacent the upper portion of the various wire mesh panels 18.

Designated generally at 20 is a fastening clip adapted to secure the marginal portions of the cover 16 on the top frame member of the swimming pool. The clip member 20 comprises an elongated channel-shaped body of flexible material, such as flexible molded plastic material, the

body being generally circular in cross sectional shape and being designated at 21. The elongated body 21 is arcuately curved to conform with the arcuate curvature of the top rail of the swimming pool and is sufliciently flexible so that it can be slipped over said top rail to clamp the marginal portion of the cover 16 thereto.

To facilitate the installation of the clips 20, and also to facilitate their removal, the clips are integrally formed with respective pairs of divergent depending guide lugs 22, 22 on their opposed end corner portions, the guide lugs 22 being outwardly concave so as to define opposing inner convex clamping surfaces 23, 23 merging with the arcuately curved, substantially parallel longitudinal edge portions 24, 24 of the body 21. As shown in FIGURE 5, said edge portions 24 define therebetween a relatively narrow passage 25 which is normally of much smaller width than the diameter of the arcuately curved top frame member of the swimming pool, but may be widened because of the flexibility of the body 21 to allow the clip to slip over the top rail of the swimming pool frame and over the marginal portion of the cover 16 engaged thereon. The downwardly divergent lugs 22, 22 are slidably engageable on the cover margin and top rail of the swimming pool frame when downward pressure is exerted on the clip to cause the space between the edges 24 to be widened to allow the clip to slip onto the rail.

As will be readily apparent, since the clips 20 are arcuately curved to conform with the arcuate curvature of the top rail of the swimming pool frame, the clips engage continuously on the marginal portions of the swimming pool cover 16 for substantially the entire length of the clips, thus distributing their clamping pressure in a manner such that they will not damage or deform the material of the cover while at the same time will hold the cover securely on the top rail of the swimming pool frame.

A suitable number of clips 20 is employed, the spacing between the clips being small enough so that the cover Will not be readily caught by the Wind.

To remove the clips, it is merely necessary to exert outward force on the pairs of lugs 22, 22, allowing the clips to be lifted off the top rail of the swimming pool frame, thus releasing the marginal portions 17 of the cover and allowing the cover to be easily removed.

As previously mentioned, the clips 20 may be made of any suitable strong flexible material, such as molded plastic material, or metal alloy having substantial resiliency.

While a'specific embodiment of an improved fastening means for releasably securing a cover on a portable swimming pool has been disclosed in the foregoing description, it will be understood that various modifications within the spirit of the invention may occur to those skilled in the art. Therefore, it is intended that no limitations be placed on the invention except as defined by the scope of the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A pool cover holding clip comprising an elongated, arcuately curved channel-shaped resilient body, and respective divergent pairs of depending guide lugs on the opposed end corner portions of said body, said pairs of lugs being outwardly-concave so as to define opposing inner convex clamping surfaces.

2. A pool cover holding clip comprising an elongated channel-shaped body of flexible material, said body having a generally circular cross sectional shape and being arcuately curved in a longitudinal direction, and respectively pairs of divergent depending guide lugs on the opposed end corner portions of said body.

3. A pool cover holding clip comprising an elongated channel-shaped body of flexible material, said body having a generally circular cross sectional shape and being arcuately curved in a longitudinal direction, and respective pairs of divergent depending guide lugs on the opposite end corner portions of said body, said pairs of lugs being outwardly concave so as to define opposing inner convex clamping surfaces.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,390,766 9/21 Cunningham.

1,711,730 5/29 Gibson '24--257 1,815,774 7/31 Heard Q4259 1,901,166 3/33 Jordan 24257 2,127,827 8/38 Meyer 24-259 2,146,190 2/39 Luke !24256 2,533,539 12/50 Vivian.

2,870,454 1/59 Schippert et a1. 4172 2,898,607 8/59 McGuire 4172 2,963,761 12/60 Haydock 24257 FOREIGN PATENTS 551,247 2/43 Great Britain.

WILLIAM FELDMAN, Primary Examiner.

SAMUEL B. ROTHBERG, DONLEY J. STOCKING,

Examiners. 

1. A POOL COVER HOLDING CLIP COMPRISING AN ELONGATED ARCUATELY CURVED CHANNEL-SHAPED RESILIENT BODY, AND RESPECTIVE DIVERGENT PAIRS OF DEPENDING GUIDE LUGS ON THE OPPOSED END CORNER PORTIONS OF SAID BODY, SAID PAIR OF LUGS BEING OUTWARDLY-CONCAVE SO AS TO DEFINE OPPOSING INNER CONVEX CLAMPING SURFACES. 